AQA GCSE Media Studies (4810) Guidance for Teachers 2013 AQA GCSE Media Studies External Assessment

Topic The Music Press: Print and Online

General Guidance on Unit 1

The following guidance is intended to support the Unit 1 external assessment of this specification. It includes general information and advice about approaching Unit 1 as well as specific guidelines on the music press. It is not designed to cover all aspects of teaching but to offer suggestions on how to approach this 2013 topic and to prepare students for the external assessment paper.

The Music Press: Print and Online

Introduction For the purposes of the Unit 1 External Assessment centres are required to confine their study of the music press to British print and online publications, with equal attention given to both. Some argue that the importance of the music press has declined over recent years and indeed it has had to compete with other areas of the media in the promotion of music. The internet has had a marked impact on the music press with some magazines now only available in their online form. It is important to consider this impact and how the internet continues to shape the development and future of the music press. Centres might find it of interest to explore past publications which are no longer produced and this is perfectly acceptable, but the history of the music press is not examined. There are also examples of both free music magazines and fanzines which can be explored. How do they differ from the mainstream music press and what kinds of threats do they pose to it? In summary, students are advised to study a range of print and online magazines covering different genres of music. Key Concepts Centres are free to cover this topic in any way they like but it is recommended to organise teaching around the four key concepts. Media Language Institutions Audience Representation

Media Language Genre A study of genre is crucial to an understanding of the music press. Publications cater for complete range of tastes and interests in music and it is important that students experience the range on offer. In exploring music genres, students should consider not only what publications have in common, but also what makes them different. Music genre gives a publication its identity which can be easily recognised by a fan. It impacts on all areas of design, content, mode of address and underlying ideology. Forms and conventions Centres are recommended to study the layout, format, design and content of both print and online publications. How do web-based publications relate to print-based ones? How are they alike and how are they different? A study of genre should lead

to an examination of the codes and conventions of not only front covers/home pages, but the range of content too. Suggested activities: 1. Analyse the generic conventions of the front cover of a music magazine. Discuss their effect on the target audience. 2. Compare the content of a print publication with its online equivalent. Institutions A study of institutions might begin by examining issues of ownership. The UK music press is made up of large corporations, small independent groups and of course independent magazines which are produced by small groups of people or even individuals. Centres can look at these publishers and the magazines they produce. How do they differ, what are their values and who writes for them? Some of these institutions have a cross-media, multi-platform presence. Does this make them more influential? These are all important questions to explore which should link to an understanding of the commercial pressures faced by the music press. How is the music press funded and what kinds of costs do both print and online magazines incur? What is the importance of the advertising industry to the survival of the music press? Suggested activities: 1. How important is the music press to the success or failure of bands/artistes? 2. Complete a case study of a publisher of a music magazine. What other magazines do they own, if any? 3. Explore the cross-media presence of a music magazine What are the advantages of this presence to both music fans and advertisers? Audience Who reads the music press? There is opportunity to look at youth culture here and the nature of fandom. Like any other investigation into audience, it is important to consider the makeup of different audience groups. Demographic profiles remain a useful tool to begin this process which can be developed into drawing up profiles of both mainstream and niche audiences and then matching them to contrasting publications. Secondly, why do audiences read the music press? By exploring a range of examples, there is a discussion to be had about how publications appeal to different audiences for different reasons. Many publications have suffered from declining readership and it is important to examine why. What is the effect of the music press on audiences? How influential is it? There are different arguments and media theories to explore the relationship between a media text and its audience.

Suggested activities: 1. Create a profile of a typical reader for two contrasting music publications. 2. Examine the content of each publication and explain how it appeals to this typical reader. Representation An understanding of representation is crucial in exploring how music genre is clearly identified in the music press. Each music genre is associated with an appearance or look, a set of behaviours and a belief system which is shared by a particular fan base. Through exploring representation it is possible to examine how music is packaged and sold, after all fans are not just buying the music, they are often subscribing to a whole set of behaviours associated with it. Both print and online music magazines represent music genres through bands/artistes and the fans. It is interesting to examine the attitude of the music press to the bands/artistes. Are they revered or idolised? Or does a magazine take a more critical, objective stance towards the music business? Suggested activities: 1. Explore representations of gender or race in the music press. 2. Select a music magazine. What kind of lifestyle does it promote? How? Production Skills All students should be thoroughly grounded in all media production skills. Clearly for this paper, students need confidence in working with all aspects of design and production conventions for both print and online music publications. Resources The best place to find resources is either on the internet or in music publications themselves, both print and online. There are many music publications available to suit all tastes in music. It is recommended that students look at as many as they can in order to widen their understanding. The following list (not exhaustive) provides some initial suggestions for centres in beginning their study. Some suggestions: Current or past print and online publications include: Print Online Mojo mojo4music.com New Musical Express nme.com Kerrang kerrang.com Top of the Pops toppmag.com We Love Pop welovepopmag.co.uk Mixmag mixmag.net Metal Hammer metalhammer.co.uk smashhits.net drownedinsound.com spin.com AQA Further Support and guidance 1. During Autumn 2012 AQA will be holding a series of Teacher CPD meetings on the music press at venues across the country. Places on these courses can be booked on-line via the AQA website.

2. AQA will also be offering a series of web conferences on the music press for teachers. Again places can be reserved via the AQA website. Other Resources Teaching the Music Press. Published by the English and Media Centre, classroom materials with CD ROM Teaching the Music Press! by Cath Davies. Published by Auteur. ISBN: 1-903663-70-9. Teaching the Music Press by Sara Mills. Published by and available from Devon Learning and Development Partnership. Product code: MED08. AQA GCSE Media Studies published by Nelson Thornes. ISBN: 978-1-4085-04-11 Media Studies for AQA GCSE by Pete Wall. Published by Collins, classroom resources with CDROM. ISBN: 978-0-00-723496-7. Articles/downloads Podcast - David Hepworth talks about the impact of the internet on music magazines: http://www.divishare.com/download/14216392-b32 How the fanzine refused to die: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/02/fanzine-simon-reynolds-blog Launch of new music magazine: http://wwwmediaweek.co.uk/news/1080493/Egmont-launches-new-teen-magazineWe-Love-Pop Websites www.media.edusites.co.uk www.englishandmedia.co.uk www.emap.com www.futurenet.co.uk www.ipcmedia.com www.developmenthell.co.uk Unit 1 Assessment Objectives and Weightings Teaching of the external assessment should be guided by the assessment objectives. These are given below together with the approximate weightings applied to the external assessment: A01: recall, select and communicate their knowledge and understanding of media products and the contexts in which they are produced and consumed (10%) AO3: demonstrate research, planning and presentation skills (5%) AO4: construct and evaluate their own products using creative and technical skills (5%)

The external assessment will examine the music press through a combination of written and production tasks. Skills in production work should have been developed through the Unit 2 Assignment Banks which exemplify the scope and range of the types of responses required. A key performance indicator remains the ability of students to demonstrate their knowledge of a range of examples from the topic examined. As is always the case, it is important to guard against over preparation of a limited number of examples

along with rehearsed teacher led arguments. The effect of this is to stifle the creativity and ability of students to demonstrate personal engagement and independent research. The specification makes it clear that for the external assessment, candidates will need to complete 4 tasks in the time given. As with Unit 2, candidates do not have to write in continuous prose and it is important to provide opportunity to develop confidence in the use of a variety of formats which can include annotations, bullet points, charts and mind maps. Unit 1 External Assessment The external assessment carries 40% of the total marks available for GCSE Media Studies (Single Award) and 20% for GCSE Media Studies (Double Award). It takes the form of a 1hour 30 minutes supervised formal examination and is timetabled. The provisional date and time of the external assessment on the music press is as follows: Issue of pre-released material to students: Tuesday 7th May 2013. Examination: Thursday 6th June 2013. Working with the pre-release material The pre-released material will take the form of a brief detailing a contextualised scenario. During the period between its issue and the date of the examination, students are expected to extend and consolidate their knowledge and understanding of the music press by completing independent research and preparation in response to the given brief. In the examination students will then be required to complete four tasks. Please note that: sufficient time must be given to the teaching of the music press before the release of the pre-released materials no formal teaching of this topic may take place after this date.

Four weeks preparation time The Unit 1 pre-release material is pivotal to the external assessment and students must work closely with it and use it to inform their research and preparation for the unseen tasks. This means that it is essential that centres put in place arrangements to support their students in working independently and productively during this critical time. Across the country centres are increasingly adopting flexible approaches to study leave, deploying a variety of strategies to meet the needs of their students. Whilst formal teaching should cease after the issue of the pre-release material, it is expected that teachers will read the brief with all their students once it is issued to ensure that all students understand it. For a minority of centres who allow students to begin study leave at the beginning of May, this might mean formalising this process, perhaps with the examinations officer creating a slot on the school's timetable to enable this to happen. Then the emphasis during the four weeks is on active independent research and planning. Instead of whole class formal teaching, teachers may adopt the role of a critical friend as they respond to individual student's progress. The ethos of the paper is to encourage students to explore the topic and to show what they know and understand. Students are not allowed to take any of their preparatory notes into the examination. Instead, a new copy of the pre-release material will be issued to them along with the question paper.

Impact on Unit 2 Assignment Banks No work for Unit 2 may cover the same topic area of the external assessment. In the case of the music press, the topic of the Promotion of Music is prohibited across all three assignment banks. However this does not prohibit submission of work on other print publications or websites. More specifically, this is the impact on Unit 2 Controlled Assessment choices for work submitted in 2013. Assignment Bank 1 topics Print Students are still free to study popular magazines as long as music magazines are not selected for the focus of the assignment. Web-based media Students cannot use the home page of a website for a music magazine or band/artiste as an example of a popular entertainment site. Promotion of Music This topic is prohibited. Assignment Bank 2 topics Promotion of Music This topic is prohibited. Print Students are still free to study popular print or online publications providing music magazines or their online equivalents are not selected. Assignment Bank 3 topics Moving Image Students are free to work with moving image as long as bands/artistes are not the subject of the production. Web-based technologies/new media Students are not permitted to submit work for a website for a music publication or band/artiste. Advertising and Marketing Students are not permitted to submit work for an advertising campaign to promote a music publication or to promote a band/ artiste. Promotion of Music This topic is prohibited.